Data Visualization Project - CHUNK 1

This post will explore CHUNK 1 of my Teaching with Technology "Data Visualization Project". I had trouble deciding which data to visualize. This is not a new personality development for me, I always have trouble making decisions.

First, I looked into the NYSED Educational Data which was beautifully compiled but already felt very, well, visualized. Next, I explored Kaggle in search of some new and interesting Taylor Swift song lyric data. I found a CSV file that listed every lyric from every song that she has ever written. This would be very useful for someone who was a high-level data visualizer! I don't know enough about data science to compile this amount of information in a coherent way. I did find an amazing visual of her lyrics but it was not useful for my data visualization project, as it was already beautifully visualized. See a snapshot of this visualization below:

I decided to go with NYSED for my data visualization because I began finding many more available data sets than I originally noticed. I played around by browsing NYS counties and districs. I was first interested in comparing Putnam and Westchester counties as I grew up on a street that was split between these counties and I often think about their differences. I wondered about the demographics of each county. I work in a predominantly white and affluent school district in Westchester county, but I don't think that this school neccessarily represents the demographics of the greater Westchester area.

I also wondered about the test scores, demographics, and graduation rates of each school district in which I have belonged. I was a student at the Brewster Central School District, briefly worked at the Bedford Central School District, and now teach in the Scarsdale Union Free School District. When I began working at the Bedford Central School District, we were given an outstanding orientation. We toured the four towns that funnelled into the district and recieved a folder filled with background information about the district. Now, I realize that some of the data we recieved was printed directly from data.nysed.gov.

I decided to compile graduation rate data from both the Brewster Central School District and from Putnam County. First, I played around with Excel (see below).

Next, I tried to use Visualize Free to create interesting visuals with this same data. However, I was stuck in chart mode and could not figure out how to compile a graph. I'm hoping to troubleshoot during or after class in order to properly visualize this data. See the unfinished visualization below.

Next week, I want expand my data to include graduation rate information from Westchester county and include the school districts that I have worked in: Scarsdale and Bedford.